Day 14: Antelope Island to Capitol Reef National Park

The Centennial for the National Park Service is in 2016. To promote the celebration, all of the Visitor Centers have stickers and t-shirts with the slogan "Find Your Park." Well...today we did. 

After leaving Antelope Island, we stopped for a quick breakfast at a local coffee shop. While there, we planned our route to Capitol Reef National Park. 

We originally thought we would just drive through the park, but once we got there and saw the campgrounds and the location, we decided to stay for the night. We chose a site under the shade of a cottonwood tree, set up camp, and piled back into the truck for what would turn out to be one of our favorite stops of any of our road trips. 

Period. 

But first, we stopped in the Historic Gifford House on the park grounds to get a snack--a small bag of cherries from the orchard in the park, a bottle of orange soda, and some strawberry ice cream. The park preserves the settlement of Fruita with the Gifford House, a one room school house, and the orchards in addition to maintaining the roads and campsite at the park. The area got its name--Capitol Reef--because of the barrier created when a rift in the Earth's crust created a "water pocket fold" that proved to be a challenging obstacle for the first settlers in the area. 

Once we stocked up on some snacks we started our exploration of the park. The scenic loop was breathtaking, but the best part was the drive down the unpaved Capitol Canyon Gorge Trail and Great Wash Trail. We've been to some amazing parks in the past--including Arches and Canyonlands--but this park made you feel like you were a part of it...not just observing it. As the walls closed in the deeper we got into the canyons, we were thankful it was a clear day since warnings about flash flooding were posted at the start of each trail. At the end of the Canyon Trail we went on foot even deeper into the canyons and saw petroglyphs and the difficult passage that Mormon settlers took through this area. 

After our drive and hike in the park, we headed back to our campsite for dinner. When we returned we were amused by quite the welcoming party at our site. Six deer were grazing right in our site and the other campers quietly crept over to take pictures and watch them. 

That's another thing we liked about this camp. It was so quiet. We had campers on either side of us, but everyone was calm and quiet enough to allow the deer to graze. I think that being so close to such beauty in terms of life and the earth around us instilled a sense of peace and calm in all of us. Even the young couple across from us who were clearly in some lovers spat the night they camped bickered quietly and made up adorably. Oh the things you see in the campgrounds! It's always an adventure! 

I hesitate to write about this location because it was less crowded than the more famous parks yet so beautiful! I don't want it to get crowded too! 

It. Was. Spectacular. 

We. Will. Be. Back.